Besides using story points to determine the complexity of tasks, following are five benefits to use story points:

1. Quick Estimates

Story Points allow a team to estimate issues quickly. The estimate of story point for a User Story is derived from the estimate relative to already completed Product Backlog Items. This is faster than estimating without any reference.

2. Estimating Duration of Work

Estimating in Story Points prevents giving an estimate in hours on how long the task will take to complete. When estimating in hours, a commitment is made to how precisely work can be completed. Story Points allow the flexibility to accommodate any research, complexity, or risks involved in the task.

3. Estimating Completion time

Story Points allow the ability to estimate work effort without providing exact completion time. Instead of providing an exact day when the work will be completed, Story Points provide information on which sprint the work will be completed.

4. Embracing Uncertainty

Story Points embrace the uncertainty that comes with estimation. Story Points estimate the effort involved in completing work by selecting values from a specific Fibonacci Sequence. This provides room to accommodate uncertainty in accomplishing tasks.

5. Precision

Story Points are accurate estimates to include precise amount of User Stories in a Sprint based on the capacity of the team. This provides better management of tasks, update on the progress, and timeline for completion of the project.

Jagmeet Singh writes about Technology and Business on W3Courses.com. Jagmeet is the owner of Parallel Exchange and developed Phonora Photo Galley software product. In his spare time he enjoys photography and loves to travel.